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CHIMO

(9,223 posts)
Thu Jan 26, 2012, 08:55 PM Jan 2012

Is this, finally, the moment Obama gets tough with Wall Street?

In his state of the union address, many heard echoes of the Barack Obama of old, the presidential aspirant of 2007 and 2008. Among the populist pledges rolled out in the speech was tough talk against the too-big-to-fail banks that have funded his campaigns and for whom many of his key advisers have worked: "The rest of us are not bailing you out ever again," he promised.

President Obama also made a striking announcement, one that could have been written by the Occupy Wall Street general assembly:

"I'm asking my attorney general to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans."

Remarkably, President Obama named New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as co-chairperson of the Unit on Mortgage Origination and Securitization Abuses. Schneiderman was on a team of state attorneys general negotiating a settlement with the nation's five largest banks. He opposed the settlement as being too limited and offering overly generous immunity from future prosecution for financial fraud.

For his outspoken consumer advocacy, he was kicked off the negotiating team. He withdrew his support of the settlement talks, along with several other key attorneys general, including California's Kamala Harris, an Obama supporter, and Delaware's Beau Biden, the vice president's son.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/26/obama-wall-street-eric-schneiderman

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Is this, finally, the moment Obama gets tough with Wall Street? (Original Post) CHIMO Jan 2012 OP
One part bothered me zipplewrath Jan 2012 #1
Instead of speeches .. Why Syzygy Jan 2012 #2
Probably not NelsMichaels Jan 2012 #3

zipplewrath

(16,646 posts)
1. One part bothered me
Thu Jan 26, 2012, 09:09 PM
Jan 2012

"and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans."

I'm worried about this part. This is a guy who parses his words carefully and I do wonder why he made this part of his statement.

I'm worried he'll be in a hurry to "look forward not backward".

Why Syzygy

(18,928 posts)
2. Instead of speeches ..
Thu Jan 26, 2012, 09:43 PM
Jan 2012

maybe we should find out what's actually happening on the ground.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/judicial-watch-sues-obama-administration-for-documents-detailing-secret-settlement-negotiations-with-mortgage-lenders-accused-of-faulty-mortgage-practices-2012-01-23


WASHINGTON, DC, Jan 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on January 3, 2012, against the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to obtain documents pertaining to accusations of fraud against the nation's five largest mortgage companies and the creation of "federal accounts" to settle probes into faulty mortgage practices (judicial watch v. hud and doj (no. 1:12-cv-0002)).

The Obama administration has reportedly been engaged in settlement negotiations behind closed doors with mortgage companies that would result in at least $20 billion in payments from the nation's major banks.

(...)

In addition to conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations with the mortgage lending industry, the Obama administration is also reportedly pressuring state attorneys general to close down their investigations and sign off on the deal. Judicial Watch previously obtained documents calling into question the veracity of testimony by Elizabeth Warren, a then-Obama administration official, about the involvement of the new Consumer Production Financial Bureau in these negotiations.

(...)

 

NelsMichaels

(3 posts)
3. Probably not
Thu Jan 26, 2012, 10:04 PM
Jan 2012

Bill Moyers' new show had this the other night...


We’ve already made our choice for the best headline of the year, so far: “Citigroup Replaces JPMorgan as White House Chief of Staff.”


When we saw it on the website Gawker.com we had to smile — but the smile didn’t last long. There’s simply too much truth in that headline; it says a lot about how Wall Street and Washington have colluded to create the winner-take-all economy that rewards the very few at the expense of everyone else.


Gotta love Moyers
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